The present disclosure relates to carbon-carbon composites, and more specifically, to material forming carbon-carbon composites.
Carbon-carbon composites have a wide variety of uses and can be formed in many different shapes. Carbon-carbon composites are known for exhibiting thermal stability in very high temperature environments. Carbon-carbon composites have a high thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion, as well as thermal stability as a solid, and the ability to resist thermal shock. As a result, carbon-carbon composites are able to retain a high level of strength and stiffness when exposed to high temperatures.
Carbon-carbon composites find use in aerospace applications, including rocket components, air frame components, nose cones, wing edges, other leading edges of space shuttles, brakes, etc. Carbon-carbon composites find further use in automobile racing applications where heavy steel breaks are replaced with lighter weight carbon-carbon composite disks.
Generally, carbon-carbon composites can be formed by arranging carbon fibers in a two, three, or four directional reinforcing structure. This structure is then impregnated with a carbon-containing compound functioning as a precursor for the carbon matrix. After impregnation, the structure is heated to produce a more dense fibrous structure wherein voids therebetween are at least partially filled with carbon resulting from pyrolysis of the precursor. This entire process is repeated multiple times (from 4 to 20 times) until the desired amount of densification has occurred.